Like most, I loved and still think the world about Roberto Mancini. He picked up a squad which was struggling under Mark Hughes and gave them organisation. We may have missed out on some initial goals in his first season, but the board gave him time to continue building. The summer of 2010 should always be remembered as one of the greatest as far as acquisitions go. Ask most City fans and it would be a toss up between Yaya Toure and David Silva as to who their favourite ever player is, and we bought both of them in the summer window. Add to them players like James Milner, Aleksander Kolarov, Mario Balotelli and you've got a decent chunk of the make up of those that delivered us our first trophies in 35 years.
But it wasn't just about winning things which made Mancini our man, and it was certainly a lot more than simply wearing a City scarf on the sidelines, although that was a good first step to at least getting on the fans side. It was the way he spoke, the way he acted and his whole passion and ambition for the club. The way that he punched the air when we scored that last minute winner against Villarreal, the way which he gave it to Ferguson on the touchline, and the way that although in the moments of madness on a sunny mid May afternoon in 2012 he didn't accept the thanks or congratulations from the press' questions, he first and foremost said "this is for all of our supporters".
Back to 2013 and things had turned a bit grey. Mancini was still strongly backed by the majority of our supporters and there was a big feeling that the new guys at board level were not giving him the backing he deserved, despite offering him a five year contract. The summer following the title win Mancini made it clear that he wanted Van Persie and De Rossi but instead we got Scott Sinclair and Maicon. Public spats with Balotelli was bad for the clubs PR. And unfortunately as much as you do not want to admit it, we are a public face of our owners and we must be seen to be a success but also approachable. Lots of rumours about players turning against Mancini also came out, and the much publicized view of kitman Les Chapman that he wouldn't even say 'hello' when he came in.
The word was that Mancini was going to be sacked and replaced with Manuel Pellegrini. I honestly had no idea who the guy was. I'm incredibly ignorant of continental football, and I don't have Sky/watch Match of the Day - Danny Drinkwater could be in the room with me right now and I wouldn't know who he is. So when I found out he was the Malaga manager I, and I'm sure a lot of others were underwhelmed. If we're getting rid of our manager that we love then it should be for someone that is clearly a lot more qualified.
I was stood outside my entrance at Wembley before the Wigan game and there was confusion, frustration and anger in the air. The Mancini song rung out outside and inside the ground, and "you can stick your Pellegrini up your arse". We all know how the rest of the day went, Ben Watson scored, we left the ground and it pissed it down. The next day Mancini was sacked.
Why am I writing about Mancini if this is a blog about Pellegrini? Because it is really important to the context of his story. I'm not for one minute suggesting that people were against Pellegrini from day one because of Mancini, however it's hard to argue that with a lot of fans the ghost of Roberto has been over Manuel, in the same way that the ghosts of de Jong and Barry will continue to circle over the heads of the players that have allowed the Etihad go from fortress to just another place where you'll probably score if you have a go.
Fast forward to 8th May 2016 and the sun may have been shining in east Manchester but the air was full of desperate emotions. Despite one of our best performances of the season, we couldn't see off Arsenal. Similarly how we performed well against Tottenham but ended up on the losing side back in February. This isn't about the Arsenal game, the damage has been done elsewhere in the season, but this day was for the majority of match going fans the last time to see some players and the manager in the flesh. The final whistle blew and the apathy shown to the players and staff from the supporters was just as strong as any chant screamed in passion outside Wembley in 2013.
On May 13th 2012 Martin Tyler said a few sound bites which are imprinted on a City fans memory, but the ones which still ring in my ear are "is this the start of a dynasty?" and "is winning things the new 'Typical City'?" We should have been at the start of a period of domination seconds after Aguero fired the ball past Paddy Kenny, but instead we're sat here clinging at the threads of Champions League football with only one more title to our cabinet plus a couple of League Cups. How has this happened?
We are all aware where we came from; I'm not going to go on about the "remember York away" aspect of our support as it's been done to death. We should be expecting a lot more than what we've achieved.
Is our current situation solely down to Pellegrini? Of course not. Financial Fair Play restrictions have hindered City somewhat, but that doesn't excuse how the money which was available has been spent. The aforementioned summer in 2012 was a sign of City standing still. The summer of 2014 again was City standing still. But £40 million on Mangala; he's recently had a handful of decent games but surely that money could have been spent better? Possibly an understatement there.
The summer just gone was the first time in years where we've bought players who have clearly been identified as first team starters, not just squad players but we have gone backwards. To be honest when you look at the squad on paper it still reads as a very strong squad apart from one area in particular - up front. Which bright spark had the idea that we should enter the season with 3 strikers? And when you look at those three strikers you have one which is without doubt one of the greatest in the world, however is constantly on the verge of injury. Then you have an untried 19 year old who has turned out to be one of the few success stories of the year. And then there's Bony. People boo'd Bony when he came on yesterday, which was a very disappointing thing to hear. I do not rate him one bit, I hope he doesn't play for City again but to boo him? Nah. It's not his fault that he's playing in the wrong team, and who wouldn't have wanted to join City from Swansea?
Back to Pellegrini.
His first season was overall a success. He came through a dodgy start to go on one of the best runs City have ever been on. The winter of 2013/14 was one of the best City have ever played and every week we looked to smash teams off the pitch. The squad was rotated well and Manuel got the best out of Kolarov, Nasri and Dzeko whilst Negredo seemed to be a great signing, this coincided with Yaya having the best season of his career.
After a rocky patch, we became strong again as the season finished and we won the Premier League. We broke records and at times were incredible, however there were a fair few moments where you wondered what game Pellers was watching. Wigan at home in the F.A. Cup and the two big Champions League games vs Bayern and Barca at home made him look naive.
The 2014/15 season wasn't the worst, but there were some pretty grim moments. Losing to Newcastle at home in the League Cup and Middlesbrough in the F.A. Cup too stick out in my mind. The Arsenal game at the end of January was bad. I think for a lot of people the biggest turning point with the fans and Pellegrini came away at Burnley. We lost and looked utterly toothless and out of ideas. The 4-4-2 system had been sussed out and he wasn't learning. Add this to walking straight past the away end and not acknowledging the fans at all. We don't ask for much in the way of recognition, just a wave or a clap for 10 seconds at the end of the game is good enough. Suppose when you're a multimillionaire you can't really relate to people have to put off other areas of their life to try and scrape together that £50 away ticket.
One thing that we rarely had between 2010-2014 was taking an absolute pasting. United at Old Trafford was the first time in years where we looked like we were going to concede every time they went forward. In past 13 months these occasions have happened time and time again. Spurs away, Liverpool home and away, Leicester at home, Southampton away, Stoke away. 20 goals conceded in those 6 games. I remember writing in December 2009 that Hughes didn't sort out the defensive unit from conceding 4 away at United in September til he eventually got sacked in December during a week where we conceded 9 goals in 3 games.
Hughes got sacked for less, Mancini certainly got sacked for a lot less. Although I can see why they were sacked - the sacking of Hughes for Mancini was completely justified. Because of Pellegrini's nice guy attitude and basically knowing he's been a caretaker manager since day 1 he's been allowed to overstay his welcome by over a year and having banners held up at the ground for his farewell speech.
Now I don't dislike Pellegrini. I follow people on Twitter who say some ridiculous things about him like they want him to die etc. which is probably the best way of showing how the internet has allowed people to showcase their psychological issues. Similar to his press conferences, to his passion towards the fans, I have no real emotion towards him. I don't wish anything bad on him, if anything I wish him well in the future. As I've said in the past, he's just out of his depth as a top level football manager. He wasn't trying to make the team lose. And you're a bit of a mental if you think otherwise.
The way in which the board has allowed him to be in charge of the club for this period of time just to set up everything for Pep screams of putting all your eggs in a basket. Pep might turn out to win us everything over the next few years, and that is what we're all hoping for. But the club see us as customers, and they've treated their customers without a lot of respect over the past year. I know this is a really short term way of looking at it, but we could have brought someone (anyone) in in November and probably saved this season. Look at what Real Madrid have done. They could potentially win the La Liga and Champions League because they got rid of someone who wasn't up to the task and despite him being one of the greatest players in the history of football, he had zero managerial experience.
Of course, there is excitement surrounding change. We're getting a much better manager with a fantastic CV and one that will hopefully create a bond with the supporters.
The first era of Mansour is ending. As well as the manager, some of the key players of our recent history and the badge of 19 years are to become part of the past. But maybe that's something to talk about another time.
It is fitting for Pellegrini's time to end in the similar shambles in which he took the job 3 years ago.
Roll on August...
